


for the one who lingers but never stays

by Engineer104



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Pining, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), also requisite no beta warning, implied anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22612930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: “From that time on, no matter how far Felix traveled, he always found himself drawn back to the opera house.It is said that, when Dorothea saw his face in the crowd, she sang only for him.”
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	for the one who lingers but never stays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Harmonious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harmonious/gifts).



> guess what? i saw Art again and had to write something for it, even if it was short and (bitter)sweet. [HERE it is](%E2%80%9C) so if you’ve a Twitter go give it a retweet or like or something and shower [the artist](%E2%80%9C) with your compliments (and also check out their other art because it’s all good)
> 
> anyway without further ado please enjoy!!

Flowers litter Dorothea’s dressing room after curtain call, roses a color rich as blood in their vases, soft white lilies tied with blue silk ribbons, pink carnations with their plush petals… They all fill the small room with their sweet perfume, almost cloying in their sweetness. 

But Dorothea’s as accustomed to that as anything else, from the cards addressed from admirers that come with the luxurious blooms to the nobles who flock outside her door desperate for gratitude - for the flowers, for their patronage, for them so much as deigning to glance in her direction - from her. Even now she hears a few milling about, the loud voice of one booming in through the door and disrupting the tenuous peace of the night. 

None of the snatches of conversation, not a single voice, belongs to the one she might want to see. 

Dorothea wonders if she imagined him sitting in the audience. His second night watching the same

performance, she spotted him in a row at the center, face impassive but attention rapt. For the briefest of heartbeats her eyes met his, a burnished gold that once shone so much brighter, and she sang just a little higher, a little louder, with the perfect touch of emotion and vibrato. 

“Another fantastic performance, Dorothea!” Manuela praised her after the show. She grinned like she never does during dress rehearsals. “I daresay I’ve never seen anything quite like that from you. What’s gotten into you?” She winked, teasing and coquettish. “Is it man? A secret lover in the audience?”

Dorothea laughed, the sound so high and fake to her own ears she doubted anyone who knew her half so well as Manuela wouldn’t see through it.  _ I almost wish,  _ she thought, but aloud she told her, “I don’t know, Manuela. There’s just something about tonight...about this opera.”

Manuela frowned, sensing - just as she expected - something more in her lame explanation, but she blessedly conceded, “It is closing in a few nights.” Her smile was kind then, and she rested her hand on Dorothea’s elbow. “I’ll make sure no one bothers you tonight.”

Dorothea’s eyes widened, but she latched onto the opportunity to escape, to be alone with her tumultuous thoughts and try to dismiss the ache in her chest. “Would you?” she said, gratitude lacing her voice. 

“Of course.” Manuela smirked. “I may be a little older than when I was the diva, but I haven’t lost my charm.” She sighed and added, “Just tell me if you need anything, all right? I’ll have someone send food for you too.”

“Thank you, Manuela,” Dorothea said, and she didn’t hesitate to embrace her.

But Dorothea now wonders if solitude is really preferable to the distraction that pompous nobles of the once-great Adrestian Empire provide. 

Even her tea, sweetened to her liking, tastes too bitter…

The voices in the hall fade as someone corrals her admirers and unwanted well-wishers away. She’s left utterly alone with her thoughts and memories, but she cannot tell if it’s regret that tugs at her abdomen or simple disappointment. 

What’s another night alone and without companionship when she’s had so many like it in her life?

A soft knock cuts into her thoughts. A sigh escapes her as she stands from the chair and pads towards the door on feet aching from dancing. She opens it. 

Her jaw drops and her heart leaps, and it’s only the shock that keeps her from slamming the door shut. 

Absurdly the first thought to slip into her head is that he’s not carrying any food. 

“F-Felix,” Dorothea stutters, her voice cracking.

She drinks him in, his worn but warm clothes and the sword dangling from his belt and his dark hair still tied in a messy knot. But the scar at the corner of his eye is new, as are the faintest streaks of silver in his hair that Dorothea can’t help but think suit him.

Felix doesn’t smile - not that she’d ever expect him too - but he raises a tentative hand and greets her, “Good evening.”

From his lips it sounds so stiff, and Dorothea should be annoyed that someone slipped into the hall after it was cleared. Yet she can’t bring herself to express that. 

(Later she’ll ask Manuela if she had something to do with this, if somehow she  _ knew _ .)

Instead Dorothea smiles - something so much more genuine than her performances - and wonders, “Are you here to offer a duel?”

Felix snorts, but surely she’s not imagining the slightest uptick to his mouth. “Perhaps,” he says, the single word full of an untold weariness, “but this time…” A note of uncertainty, so endearing Dorothea wants to embrace him as if leagues and years never separated them. 

“Maybe this time we can start with the tea.”

**Author's Note:**

> that’s another Felix ship checked off the list...
> 
> I hope you liked it!


End file.
